2015 NCAA Division I FBS football season

Rule changes

• Eight-man officiating crews are made standard in FBS with the addition of the center judge position. Various FBS conferences experimented with eight-man crews in the 2013 and 2014 seasons.
• Unsportsmanlike conduct penalties of 15 yards will be called on players who pull or yank opponents off piles.
• A 10-second runoff and reset of the play clock to 40 seconds will occur if a defensive player's helmet comes off within the final minute of either half. Previously, the play clock was set to 25 seconds and no runoff occurred.
• The five-yard penalty for a first offense sideline warning has been removed, modifying a 2008 rule change. Moving forward, the second offense will be penalized five yards, followed by 15 yards starting with the third offense.
• Officials will require players with illegal equipment to leave the field for one play to correct it. Teams may use a time-out to correct the equipment and avoid the player having to sit out the play.
• Instant replay can be used to review if the kicking team blocked the receiving team before an onside kick has gone 10 yards.
• Teams must have 22 minutes for pre-game warmups, which can be shortened by mutual agreement of both teams.
• The play clock will be reset to 40 seconds if the play clock reaches 25 seconds before the ball is ready for play. Previously, the play clock was reset if the play clock ran to 20 seconds.
• Non-standard/overbuilt facemasks are prohibited.

Conference realignment

Membership changes

Other headlines

• June 1 – UAB, which had dropped football after the 2014 season, announced that it would reinstate it as early as 2016.
• July 21 – UAB announced that it had pushed back the return of football to the 2017 season.
• September 1 – The Sun Belt Conference announced that Coastal Carolina would become a full member of the conference on July 1, 2016. The Coastal Carolina football team, a member of the FCS Big South Conference along with the rest of the athletic program at the time of the announcement, began a transition to FBS after the 2015 season, joined Sun Belt football in 2017, and became fully bowl-eligible in 2018.
• January 13, 2016 – The NCAA Division I council approved a rule that, from the 2016 season forward, allows FBS conferences to stage championship games regardless of their current membership numbers. The new rule, as originally proposed by the Big 12 Conference and amended by the Big Ten Conference, stipulates that a conference with fewer than 12 members can stage a championship game under either of the following circumstances:
• * The game involves two division winners, with each division having played a round-robin schedule.
• * The game involves the top two teams in the conference standings after a full round-robin conference schedule.

  Regular season top 10 matchups

• Week 2
• *No. 5 Michigan State defeated No. 7 Oregon 31–28
• Week 7
• *No. 10 Alabama defeated No. 9 Texas A&M 41–23
• *No. 6 LSU defeated No. 8 Florida 35–28
• Week 10
• *No. 4/7 Alabama defeated No. 2/4 LSU 30–16
• Week 12
• *No. 10/10 Baylor defeated No. 6/4 Oklahoma State 45–35
• *No. 9/9 Michigan State defeated No. 3/2 Ohio State 17–14
• Week 13
• *No. 3/5 Oklahoma defeated No. 11/9 Oklahoma State 58–23
• *No. 8/8 Ohio State defeated No. 10/12 Michigan 42–13
• *No. 9/13 Stanford defeated No. 6/4 Notre Dame 38–36
• Week 14
• *No. 5/5 Michigan State defeated No. 4/4 Iowa 16–13
• *No. 1/1 Clemson defeated No. 10/8 North Carolina 45–37

  Upsets

Jacksonville State at Auburn game

Upsets involving officiating

Miami vs. Duke

• A Miami player's knee was down before releasing one of the eight laterals.
• An illegal block should have been called during the return at Miami's 16-yard line, which would have given the Hurricanes an untimed down at their own 8-yard line.
• Miami should have been penalized for a bench player entering the field of play during the return, although this would not have changed the touchdown ruling.
• A penalty for an illegal block in the back that was rescinded — initially negating Miami's touchdown before officials conferred — was called correctly, but that the referee didn’t properly communicate why the decision was made.

  Nebraska vs. Michigan State

Updated stadiums

• Charlotte, playing its first season in FBS, debuted at the on-campus Jerry Richardson Stadium. The stadium opened for the 49ers' first season in 2013 with a capacity of 15,314, but was designed for quick expansion to as much as 40,000.
• Kentucky debuted a major renovation to Commonwealth Stadium. A$110 million project reduced the capacity from 67,530 to 61,000, and added a new recruiting plaza in the east end zone surrounded by a new student section, more than 20 new luxury boxes and 2,000 new club seats, new home-team facilities, a revamped exterior, and improved concourses.
• UCF took out about 2,000 seats from the east side of Bright House Networks Stadium, replacing them with a new club seating section with a capacity of about 1,000 that includes a beach area.
• Auburn debuted the largest video board in college football in Jordan–Hare Stadium. The video board measures 190 feet by 57. The project was expected to cost $13.9 million.
• Duke featured a newly renovated Wallace Wade Stadium. The renovations included removal of the track and lowering of the field by several feet; more seating capacity near field level along both sidelines and the north end zone; the replacement of bleachers on the west side of the stadium with Duke blue seats; new brick facades around much of the field; a brand-new, much larger video board and new speakers; a refresh of the concourse area around the top of the bowl, with new sidewalks and brick separating the concourse from the seating area; and new concession booths, restrooms, and concourse lighting along with a new elevator tower. Construction on a new press box, luxury boxes, and attached seats was ongoing throughout the season, and was expected to be complete in time for the 2016 season. These marked the first major upgrades to Wallace Wade Stadium in over 70 years.
• Kansas State debuted the Vanier Football Complex in the north end zone of Bill Snyder Family Stadium. This feature includes new seating, a video board, offices, locker rooms and strength training facilities.
• Cincinnati debuted renovations to Nippert Stadium that increased the capacity to 40,000 and added premium seating, a new press box, a new pavilion, additional restrooms, upgraded concessions and improved concourses.
• Ole Miss announced plans to renovate Vaught–Hemingway Stadium during the 2015 season and the 2015–16 offseason. The project was intended to bring the stadium's ultimate capacity to 64,038. The stadium was to be turned into a complete bowl, adding club level seating, restrooms, concessions, etc. The renovation was planned for completion by the start of the 2016–17 season. This renovation was part of the Forward Together campaign, which also gave the Rebels a new basketball arena, The Pavilion at Ole Miss, right next to the football stadium.
• Texas A&M completed renovations to the west side and facade of Kyle Field, reducing the capacity from the previous season. The project cost over $450 million.

  Conference standings

Conference summaries

Power 5 Conferences">Power Five conferences">Power 5 Conferences

[Group of Five Conferences]

Postseason

Bowl selections

Bowl eligible teams

• American Athletic Conference : Memphis, Houston, Temple, Navy, South Florida, Cincinnati, Connecticut, Tulsa
• Atlantic Coast Conference : Clemson, Florida State, Duke, Pittsburgh, North Carolina, Miami, North Carolina State, Louisville, Virginia Tech
• Big 12 Conference : Baylor, TCU, Oklahoma State, Oklahoma, Texas Tech, West Virginia, Kansas State
• Big Ten Conference : Ohio State, Michigan State, Iowa, Indiana, Michigan, Penn State, Northwestern, Wisconsin
• Conference USA : Western Kentucky, Marshall, Louisiana Tech, Southern Mississippi, Middle Tennessee State
• Independents : Notre Dame, BYU
• Mid-American Conference : Toledo, Bowling Green, Northern Illinois, Western Michigan, Ohio, Central Michigan, Akron
• Mountain West Conference : Boise State, San Diego State, Air Force, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah State, Colorado State
• Pac-12 Conference : Stanford, Utah, UCLA, Washington State, USC, Oregon, Arizona, California, Arizona State, Washington
• Southeastern Conference : LSU, Alabama, Florida, Ole Miss, Mississippi State, Texas A&M, Georgia, Tennessee, Arkansas, Auburn
• Sun Belt Conference : Georgia Southern, Georgia State, Appalachian State, Arkansas State

Bowl ineligible teams

• American Athletic Conference : Central Florida, East Carolina, SMU, Tulane
• Atlantic Coast Conference : Boston College, Georgia Tech, Syracuse, Wake Forest, Virginia
• Big 12 Conference : Iowa State, Kansas, Texas
• Big Ten Conference : Illinois, Maryland, Minnesota*, Nebraska*, Purdue, Rutgers
• Conference USA : Charlotte, North Texas, UTSA, Florida Atlantic, Florida International, UTEP, Rice, Old Dominion
• Independents : Army
• Mid-American Conference : Buffalo, Miami, Eastern Michigan, Massachusetts, Ball State, Kent State
• Mountain West Conference : Wyoming, Hawaii, Fresno State, UNLV, San José State*
• Pac-12 Conference : Oregon State, Colorado
• Southeastern Conference : South Carolina, Vanderbilt, Missouri, Kentucky
• Sun Belt Conference : Louisiana-Lafayette, New Mexico State, Louisiana-Monroe, Idaho, South Alabama, Troy, Texas State

College Football Playoff

Conference performance in bowl games

Rankings

Final CFP rankings

Final rankings

Awards and honors

Heisman Trophy

Other overall

• Archie Griffin Award : Deshaun Watson, Clemson
• AP Player of the Year: Christian McCaffrey, Stanford
• Chic Harley Award : Christian McCaffrey, Stanford
• Maxwell Award : Derrick Henry, Alabama
• SN Player of the Year: Baker Mayfield, Oklahoma
• Walter Camp Award : Derrick Henry, Alabama

  Special overall

• Burlsworth Trophy : Baker Mayfield, Oklahoma
• Paul Hornung Award : Christian McCaffrey, Stanford
• Campbell Trophy : Ty Darlington, Oklahoma
• Wuerffel Trophy : Ty Darlington, Oklahoma

  Offense

• Davey O'Brien Award : Deshaun Watson, Clemson
• Johnny Unitas Award : Connor Cook, Michigan State
• Kellen Moore Award : Baker Mayfield, Oklahoma
• Manning Award : Deshaun Watson, Clemson
• Sammy Baugh Trophy : Matt Johnson, Bowling Green

• Doak Walker Award : Derrick Henry, Alabama
• Jim Brown Trophy : Dalvin Cook, Florida State

• Fred Biletnikoff Award : Corey Coleman, Baylor
• Paul Warfield Trophy : Roger Lewis, Bowling Green

• John Mackey Award : Hunter Henry, Arkansas
• Ozzie Newsome Award : Jake Butt, Michigan

• Dave Rimington Trophy : Ryan Kelly, Alabama
• Jim Parker Trophy : Landon Turner, North Carolina

  Defense

• Bronko Nagurski Trophy : Tyler Matakevich, Temple
• Chuck Bednarik Award : Tyler Matakevich, Temple
• Lott Trophy : Carl Nassib, Penn State

• Bill Willis Award : Myles Garrett, Texas A&M
• Dick Butkus Award : Jaylon Smith, Notre Dame
• Jack Lambert Trophy : Joe Schobert, Wisconsin
• Rotary Lombardi Award : Carl Nassib, Penn State
• Ted Hendricks Award : Carl Nassib, Penn State

• Jim Thorpe Award : Desmond King, Iowa
• Jack Tatum Trophy : Desmond King, Iowa

  Special teams

• Lou Groza Award : Ka'imi Fairbairn, UCLA
• Vlade Award : Aidan Schneider, Oregon
• Ray Guy Award : Tom Hackett, Utah
• Jet Award : Christian McCaffrey, Stanford
• Peter Mortell Award : Peter Mortell, Minnesota

  Other positional awards

• Outland Trophy : Joshua Garnett, Stanford

  Coaches

• AFCA Coach of the Year: Dabo Swinney, Clemson
• AP Coach of the Year: Dabo Swinney, Clemson
• Bobby Bowden National Collegiate Coach of the Year Award:
• Bobby Dodd Coach of the Year Award: Kirk Ferentz, Iowa
• Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year: Kirk Ferentz, Iowa
• Maxwell Coach of the Year:
• Paul "Bear" Bryant Award: Dabo Swinney, Clemson
• Liberty Mutual Coach of the Year Award:
• SN Coach of the Year: Dabo Swinney, Clemson
• The Home Depot Coach of the Year Award: Dabo Swinney, Clemson
• Woody Hayes Trophy: Kirk Ferentz, Iowa
• Walter Camp Coach of the Year: Dabo Swinney, Clemson

  Assistants

• AFCA Assistant Coach of the Year: Don Brown, Boston College
• Broyles Award: Lincoln Riley, Oklahoma

  All-Americans

Coaching changes

Television viewers and ratings

Most watched regular season games

• Excludes Conference Championships

  Conference championship games

College Football Playoff

• ESPN Megacast